Team Liquid put together a very strong run throughout the MDL Macau 2019 playoffs, culminating in them competing in the grand finals.
They made it into the finals after besting Evil Geniuses 2-0 in the upper bracket finals. It wasn’t much of a fight and that win just showed that Liquid’s exceptional play wasn’t ending any time soon.
After losing to Liquid, EG dropped down into the lower bracket to face the surging Virtus Pro in the bronze match.
The series went the distance as the two teams split a pair of highly-competitive games to set up a crucial game three. After pulling away late for the win in game two, EG kept rolling.
The North American powerhouse managed to stop VP in their tracks, dropping only 12 kills as they zoned them out. VP had their lower bracket run stopped one short of breaking out after winning three series in a row.
That set up the third meeting between Liquid and EG at this event, but the result ended up being the same as the previous two.
The best-of-five started with Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi setting the tone early and building up farm until the very end. His team controlled the lanes and ran interference whenever someone tried to break their stride.
Liquid ran through EG’s remaining defenses in the final minutes to wrap up a 23-minute win. Game two didn’t get any better for the lower bracket champs, either.
EG managed just four kills as Liquid completely decimated them in a 20-minute display of the former International champions’ mastery of the game. It was an incredible round once more from Miracle- as his team poised themselves to claim the MDL title.
With their backs against the wall, EG threw everything they had at game three. Artour “Arteezy” Babaev led his squad to an impressive win that put EG on the board for the first time against Liquid in this series.
In the fourth game of the finals, Liquid wouldn’t be denied. They jumped out to a resource advantage very early on and never looked back, taking to the lanes and forcing confrontations with the enemy early.
It wasn’t a clean win, but they finished with a 19-11 K/D advantage as they finished the series 3-1 to claim the MDL Macau 2019 title.
Miracle- was named the MVP of the event after helping his team dominate the finals with a performance where his offense helped carry them while not dying a single time. This is a great sign for Liquid, especially since this was Miracle’s first big tournament of the year after missing the last Major due to personal reasons.
Both Liquid and EG will compete in the DreamLeague Season 11 Stockholm Major take place from March 14 to 24. Sixteen teams will compete in that Dota Pro Circuit event for their share of $1 million and 15,000 DPC points.
Published: Feb 24, 2019 04:46 pm